Esteury Ruiz is in a hurry to get somewhere, and we’re not talking about Oakland or Las Vegas.
The Athletics’ leadoff hitter poked what appeared to be a single to right field Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and slid head-first easily into second base with a double.
Ruiz, through a translator, maintains he wasn’t even the fastest player on his Little League team in the Dominican Republic. Hard to believe when he chased down two potential would-be hits by Arizona’s Emmanuel Rivera.
National headlines regarding the Athletics have focused on their 10-35 record, empty seats at the dilapidated Coliseum and the responsibility of silent owner John Fisher for putting a once-proud franchise in an impossible position while attempting to flee to Las Vegas.
The success of the A’s sell-offs as Fisher stripped the franchise is well known — Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy and others.
For anyone paying attention, Ruiz, who came to the A’s from Milwaukee in the three-way deal that sent Murphy to Atlanta, is producing at a potential Rookie of the Year level with little or no scrutiny.
The A’s used to churn out Rookie of the Year winners with regularity, including pitcher Andrew Bailey (2009), pitcher Huston Street (2005), shortstop Bobby Crosby (2004), outfielder Ben Grieve (1998), shortstop Walt Weiss (1988), first baseman Mark McGwire (1987) and outfielder Jose Canseco (1986).
On the 20-80 scale scouts use to evaluate prospects, Ruiz rates at 70-plus in terms of speed — which ranks him among the fastest players in the game. He stole 85 bases as a minor leaguer in 2022 at two stops.
Ruiz, 24, has a chance to elevate his recognition factor when the A’s open a three-game series against the World Series champion Houston Astros on the road Friday.
Aledmys Díaz, a teammate who played with the Astros last season, has seen what he has needed to see from Ruiz and is expecting even bigger and better things.
“Unbelievable, the way he’s playing, coming into the league so quick,” Diaz said. “You see a lot of younger players, they get lost for a time. But he makes adjustments daily. He seems to learn so much — on the basepaths, playing defense, and with his at-bats. It’s impressive.”
While speed is the most important part of his game, Ruiz has an intriguing toolbox of skills. He’s an aggressive hitter, swinging first and pondering later. He’s an analytical baserunner, taking that aggressive nature to the extra base whenever possible.
As a center fielder, Ruiz is a neophyte who at present has outrun some of his difficulties.
Ruiz is a surprisingly good hitter with men in scoring position, and while he’s not much for taking walks, he’s apparently willing and able to get plunked to make sure he’s on base to create havoc.
Leading the American League with 20 stolen bases in 44 games, Ruiz if healthy looks to be a lock to get to 40, like Coco Crisp did in 2011 when he lead the league with 49. Or 50, like Rajai Davis did in 2010. Or 60, like Rickey Henderson did in 1998.
Diaz sees baserunning skills well beyond pure speed.
“Everybody sees how fast he can run, but the jumps he gets and the pressure he puts on pitchers, he does his work,” Diaz said. “He knows what kind of player he wants to be and he prepares. He’s looking for movements from the pitcher, for counts he can steal.”
Yet Ruiz isn’t looking to work counts and then slap and run. He is hitting .442 with runners in scoring position and .329 on the first pitch he sees, including seven doubles, a triple and his lone home run.
“I’m not going to stop swinging the bat just to look for a walk,” Ruiz said. “I’m an aggressive ballplayer. Any time I get up there I’m going to start swinging. That’s my approach.”
Ruiz is hitting. 277 and is second on the A’s with 22 RBIs, trailing only Brent Rooker (30).
In the A’s 12-inning, 9-8 win over Arizona Tuesday night, Ruiz hit at Nick Ahmed that drove in the winning run. Two innings earlier, with the winning run in scoring position, he hit one down the third base line that was just foul.
While his clutch hitting has been impressive, Kotsay believes Ruiz will gain some plate discipline with experience. No need to force that upon him now unless he starts flailing at pitches far and wide.
“There’s a balance to it,” Kotsay said. “You want it in the zone. If he’s swinging at pitches in the zone, you don’t want to take away from that.”
As for Ruiz being continually hit by pitches — he’s on pace to surpass Mark Canha’s Oakland-era team record of 27 two years ago — Kotsay has mixed emotions. Ruiz has reached base more on being hit by a pitch (10) than walks (7).
“It’s not a trait you want to have, but it also tells you that he’s holding his ground, and from a hitter’s standpoint he’s not bailing out on pitches,” Kotsay said.
As a center fielder, Ruiz is a work in progress. The A’s were unimpressed with his work as an infielder so at this point it’s outfield or nothing. Kotsay, a former center fielder, said Ruiz has only begun learning the nuances of how to play balls off the bat and how to get a jump by knowing where a ball is to be pitched.
Aside from the details of playing the position, Kotsay wants to see Ruiz duplicate his mindset as a hitter and baserunner when he’s patrolling the outfield.
“There’s hopefully a correlation,” Kotsay said. “As aggressive as you are running, be aggressive in center field. Go after everything you can possibly catch.”
